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having the horse Pegasus killed the Chimera. 4.51 The fifty-first story is that concerning Cerberus. It is this. It is said in a myth that there is a certain dog having three heads which is called Tricranus. And this one, it is said, guards the gates of Hades. And it fawns upon and flatters those descending, but it bites those ascending and does not allow them to come up. It is said, therefore, that Heracles, when he descended to carry off Persephone with Pirithous, killed Cerberus upon his ascent. 4.52 The fifty-second story is that concerning Scylla. It is this. It is said in a myth that in the Tyrrhenian sea there is a monster, which is a most beautiful woman down to the navel, but on this side and that six dogs' heads are grown onto her; and the rest of her body is snakelike. This monster, it is said, devoured those sailing past these seas unsparingly and monstrously. 4.53 The fifty-third story is that concerning Charybdis. It is this. Near this Sicilian and Tyrrhenian sea is a certain place, in which the sea becomes an ebb-tide and a breaker. And the water parts so that the bottom of the sea in this part can, if possible, be seen. An ebb-tide is a sort of drinking up and sucking in; and the water returns into certain hollows of the rocks and then bursts forth again. This is also called a breaker. And this place was dangerous for sailors and full of death. For a ship would be sunk completely in this place if it happened, while the ship was sailing, that there was an ebb-tide and a breaker. Concerning these things Homer writes: "On one side Scylla, and on the other divine Charybdis." And he called Charybdis "opposite," comparing her to Scylla. 4.54 The fifty-fourth story is about the helm of Hades. It is this. Homer the poet introduces Zeus as having produced a certain invisibility and concealment around the Greeks so that they were not seen. He says, therefore, in a more mythical way, that he put the helm of Hades around them so that they were not seen. The helm is the helmet of Hades, that is, of Pluto. 4.55 The fifty-fifth story is that concerning the ring of Gyges. It is this. Plato the philosopher in the Republic (for so his treatise is called) introduces a certain myth. And he says that there was a certain shepherd, Gyges, in Lydia. While this man was shepherding his flocks on a mountain, he chanced upon a certain cave, and having entered into it, he found a bronze horse, and in the bronze horse he found a dead man and a ring. The head of this ring was turnable, and it could be turned. Which head the divine Gregory calls a bezel. So Gyges took the ring, it is said, and went out. And when the ring was in its place, he was seen by all, but when he turned the bezel of the ring, he became invisible to all. Plato therefore introduces this myth, that, he says, a just man, even if he should get the ring of Gyges so that he is not seen by anyone, not even so ought he to do wrong. For the noble must be practiced for the sake of the good itself, and not on account of certain others. 4.56 The fifty-sixth story is that concerning the Lindians cursing the Bouthoinas. It is this. Lindos is an ancient city of Rhodes. In it, against the priest sacrificing and feasting on the ox, those sacrificing uttered curses and reviled and committed unholy outrages. 4.57 The fifty-seventh story is about the killing of strangers among the Tauri. It is this. We have already said that in Scythia there is a people or city called the Tauri. Here Artemis is honored. Therefore, since Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, was brought here by Artemis, they used to sacrifice the arriving strangers so that Iphigenia would not be discovered after the return of the strangers. 4.58 The fifty-eighth story is that the Laconians are carded beside the altars. This has been told already before, and is told now too. The Lacedaemonians, teaching their own children to be hardy, used scourgings, teaching them to be enduring. And they would card them with blows beside the altars, and to the one who did not show weakness but bore it bravely they gave a prize. 4.59 The fifty-ninth story is that of the Phrygians cutting themselves.

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ἔχων τὸν Πήγασον ἵππον ἀπέκτεινε τὴν Χίμαιραν. 4.51 Πεντηκοστὴ πρώτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸν Κέρβερον. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Μυθεύεται ὅτι ἐστί τις κύων ἔχων τρεῖς κεφαλὰς ὃς καλεῖται Τρίκρανος. καὶ οὗτος, φησί, φυλάττει τὰς πύλας τοῦ Ἅιδου. καὶ τοὺς μὲν καταβαίνοντας σαίνει καὶ κολακεύει, τοὺς δὲ ἀνιόντας δάκνει καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ ἀνελθεῖν. φησὶν οὖν ὅτι ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ὅτε κατῆλθε συναρπάσαι τῷ Πειρίθῳ τὴν Περσεφόνην, ἀνιὼν ἀπέκτεινε τὸν Κέρβερον. 4.52 Πεντηκοστὴ δευτέρα ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὴν Σκύλλαν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Μυθεύεται ἐν τῷ Τυρρηνικῷ πελάγει θηρίον, ὅ ἐστι γυνὴ μὲν περικαλλὴς μέχρι τοῦ ὀμφαλοῦ, ἔνθεν δὲ καὶ ἔνθεν κυνῶν κεφαλαὶ προσπεφύκασιν αὐτῇ ἕξ· τὸ δὲ ἄλλο αὐτῆς σῶμα ὀφιῶδες. ὅ, φησί, θηρίον τοὺς παραπλέοντας τὰ πελάγη ταῦτα κατήσθιεν ἀφειδῶς καὶ θηριωδῶς. 4.53 Πεντηκοστὴ τρίτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὴν Χάρυβδιν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Περὶ τὸ Σικελικὸν τοῦτο καὶ Τυρρηνικὸν πέλαγός ἐστι τις τόπος, ἐν ᾧ ἡ θάλασσα γίνεται ἄμπωτις καὶ ῥαχία. καὶ διίσταται τὸ ὕδωρ ὥστε τὸν πυθμένα τῆς θαλάσσης κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος, εἴγε δυνατόν, ὁρᾶσθαι. ἄμπωτις δέ ἐστιν οἱονεὶ ἀνάποσίς τις καὶ ἀναρρόφησις· τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ ὑπονοστεῖ ἔν τισι κοιλώμασι τῶν πετρῶν καὶ πάλιν ἐκρήγνυται. ὃ καὶ καλεῖται ῥαχία. ἦν δὲ οὗτος ὁ τόπος τοῖς πλέουσιν ἐπικίνδυνος καὶ θανάτου μεστός. ὁλοβρύχιον γὰρ τὸ πλοῖον ἐγίνετο ἐν τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ, εἰ συνέβη, πλέοντος τοῦ πλοίου, γενέσθαι ἀμπώτιδα καὶ ῥαχίαν. περὶ τούτων Ὅμηρος· Ἔνθεν μὲν Σκύλλη, ἑτέρωθι δὲ δῖα Χάρυβδις. ἀντίθετον δὲ ἐκάλεσε τὴν Χάρυβδιν πρὸς τὴν Σκύλλαν παραβαλών. 4.54 Πεντηκοστὴ τετάρτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τῆς Ἅιδος κυνέης. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ὅμηρος ὁ ποιητὴς εἰσφέρει τὸν ∆ία ἀορασίαν τινὰ καὶ ἀφάνειαν ἐμποιήσαντα περὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ὥστε μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι. λέγει οὖν μυθικώτερον, ὅτι τὴν κυνέαν τοῦ Ἅιδου περιέβαλεν αὐτοῖς ὥστε μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι. ἡ δὲ κυνέη περικεφαλαία ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἅιδου ἤτοι τοῦ Πλούτωνος. 4.55 Πεντηκοστὴ πέμπτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸν Γύγου δακτύλιον. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Πλάτων ὁ φιλόσοφος ἐν Πολιτείαις (ἔστι δὲ οὕτως αὐτοῦ λεγομένη πραγματεία) εἰσφέρει τινὰ μῦθον. οὗτος δὲ λέγει ὅτι Γύγης ἦν τις ποιμὴν περὶ τὴν Λυδίαν. οὗτος ποιμαίνων ἐν ὄρει τὰ πρόβατα, περιέτυχε σπηλαίῳ τινι, καὶ εἰσελθὼν ἐν αὐτῷ, εὗρεν ἵππον χαλκοῦν, καὶ εὗρεν ἐν τῷ χαλκῷ ἵππῳ νεκρὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ δακτύλιον. οὗ δακτυλίου ἡ κεφαλὴ στρεπτὴ ἦν, καὶ ἐστρέφετο. ἣν κεφαλὴν καλεῖ σφενδόνην ὁ θεῖος Γρηγόριος. ἔλαβεν οὖν ὁ Γύγης, φησί, τὸν δακτύλιον, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν. καὶ ἡνίκα μὲν ἦν ἐν τῇ τάξει ὁ δακτύλιος, ἑωρᾶτο ὑπὸ πάντων, ἡνίκα δὲ τὴν σφενδόνην τοῦ δακτυλίου ἔστρεφεν, ἀφανὴς ἐγίνετο πᾶσιν. ὁ οὖν Πλάτων εἰσφέρει τὸν μῦθον τοῦτον, ὅτι, φησίν, ὁ δίκαιος ἀνήρ, κἂν τὸν Γύγου λάβῃ δακτύλιον ἵνα μὴ ὁρᾶται ὑπό τινος, οὐδ' οὕτως ὤφειλεν ἀδικεῖν. δεῖ γὰρ τὸ καλὸν δι' αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐπιτηδεύεσθαι, καὶ μὴ δι' ἄλλους τινάς. 4.56 Πεντηκοστὴ ἕκτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ κατὰ τὸ τοὺς Λινδίους καταρᾶσθαι τῷ Βουθοίνᾳ. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Λίνδος πόλις παλαιὰ τῆς Ῥόδου. ἐν ταύτῃ τῷ ἱερεῖ τῷ θύοντι καὶ θοινωμένῳ τὸν βοῦν οἱ θύοντες κατηρῶντο καὶ διελοιδοροῦντο καὶ ὕβριζον ὕβρεις οὐχ ὁσίας. 4.57 Πεντηκοστὴ ἑβδόμη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ περὶ τοῦ ἐν τοῖς Ταύροις ξενοκτονεῖν. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη. Ἤδη εἴπομεν ὅτι ἐν τῇ Σκυθίᾳ ἔθνος ἐστὶν ἤτοι πόλις λεγομένη Ταῦροι. ἐνταῦθα τιμᾶται ἡ Ἄρτεμις. τῆς οὖν Ἰφιγενείας τῆς Ἀγαμέμνονος θυγατρὸς ἐνταῦθα ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἐνεχθείσης, τοὺς ἀφικομένους ξένους ἔθυον πρὸς τὸ μὴ κατάδηλον γίνεσθαι τὴν Ἰφιγενείαν μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον τῶν ξένων. 4.58 Πεντηκοστὴ ὀγδόη ἐστὶν ἱστορία τὸ τοὺς Λάκωνας ξαίνεσθαι παρὰ τοὺς βωμούς. ἔστι δὲ αὕτη ῥηθεῖσα μὲν καὶ ἤδη πρότερον, καὶ νῦν δὲ λέγεται. Οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι καρτερικοὺς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν παῖδας εἶναι ἐκδιδάσκοντες ταῖς διαμαστιγώσεσιν ἐχρῶντο, ἐκδιδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς ὑπομονητικῶς ἔχειν. καὶ τούτους ἔξαινον ταῖς πληγαῖς παρὰ τοῖς βωμοῖς, καὶ τῷ μὴ ὀλιγωρήσαντι ἀλλὰ γενναίως ἐνεγκόντι ἆθλον ἐδίδοσαν. 4.59 Πεντηκοστὴ ἐνάτη ἐστὶν ἱστορία ἡ τοῦ κατατέμνεσθαι τοὺς Φρύγας.